Chapter Thirty-Eight: This New Planet (Doctor`s Point of View)
"Doctor, did we land yet?" Ditzy asked.
"Aaaaannnnd, NOW we have landed!" I laughed. "Come on, then, shall we go?"
"Let`s do this!" Dinky smiled.
I opened the doors and we all gasped in unison.
The ground looked like it was made of a crystal porcelain, almost like an old collectible doll`s skin, with golden swirls swimming around inside. The sky was a pale blue with an almost unnoticeable white tint, skinny dark grey clouds rarely being spotted out. The houses were two-stories tall with a few windows dotting the walls, made entirely out of a dark brown, smooth, almost wooden solid.
The people here looked exactly the same as humans, so obviously we happily fit in. They dressed normally as well, in outfits that you might wear to casual events. They all seemed overly happy, with grins that might even be as big as mine – and that`s saying something.
When the wind blew an icy gust would carefully hit us, which I found strange. It was almost like they could control the weather and make the impact of the wind speed smaller!
"Doctor, this place is absolutely amazing," Dinky sighed happily, looking up at me.
"Oh, hello there newcomers," a woman smiled, "very nice to meet you."
"Okay, um, hi," Ditzy laughed, waving back.
"May I see to your names?"
"Right, right, I`m the Doctor, this is Ditzy, and this is Dinky."
"Oh, are you three a family?"
"Nah, just... I actually don`t know, to be honest," Dinky tried to explain with an embarrassed laugh.
"Sorry I asked. I`m Melinda Ross," she frowned slightly before returning to her smile.
"Do you mind telling us where we are?" Ditzy asked.
"Yes, you are in Middle Eastown." (Author`s Note: yeah, yeah, I know, settle down, stupid name for a beautiful city. I ran out of options. Deal with it. I hate it too, sadly, haha.)
"And what planet are we on, I suppose I shall ask?"
"We don`t have a planet name," she shrugged.
"Why not...?"
"I guess there`s no need. I mean, you shouldn`t be asking me. I`m just a citizen," she laughed. "Would you like to speak to our Mayor?"
"Is the Mayor the highest authority here?" I asked.
"Yes. The Mayor is at the top of the scale, and us citizens are somewhere in between. Come on, let`s go!"
"Might I say," I smiled as we began walking, "this place is absolutely beautiful!"
"Aw, why thank you," Melinda smiled back. "It took a while for Middle Eastown to look this way, of course."
Ditzy tilted her head at Melinda. "How did it get this way, anyhow?"
"Oh, I`m younger than most people, so I don`t know the entire story. The Mayor, however, she knows it by heart, because she lived through it."
We walked for a few more minutes in silence. A light snow started to drizzle on the ground and our steps began to crunch. "If you don`t mind me asking, how old is the Mayor?" I asked.
"Oh, um... I think she`s about 504...?" Melinda asked herself before nodding. "Yes, our Mayor is 504 years of age, been setting the law straight since she was merely 200."
"But how is she still, you know, alive? Are you a different species?"
"You must be new here if you don`t know that," she laughed, "we`re all human."
"But if you are all human, why haven`t you... you know, died yet?" Ditzy asked carefully.
Melinda didn`t answer, she just kept moving forward until we reached a building that looked like it was literally made out of aquamarine crystals, the sunlight shining dimly since the snowfall was almost blocking it.
Instead of Melinda opening the door for us, a tall, grey-haired woman I guess was probably a receptionist of some sort did.
"I got it from here, thank you," the woman replied with a forced smile.
"Have fun!" Melinda laughed, but it seemed like there was something behind it that didn`t belong with her cheerful attitude.
Ditzy took my hand as quickly as she could, Dinky cowering behind us both. "What`s wrong?" She asked Dinky.
"I don`t like that lady," she frowned, but returned to her regular expression when the grey haired woman looked at us.
She sat behind a desk, smoothing her black skirt out. Her nametag read Delia West. "What may we do you for?" She then asked.
"We`re, um... new," Ditzy stammered, looking up at me and then back at Delia, "and we heard from Melinda that we could possibly speak to the Mayor and find out more of where we are?"
Delia typed something into her computer and I took this time to glance around at my surroundings. The room had some small green plants in a sunburnt orange vase, a few small benches. Then, a small waterfall trickled into a small pond in the top left corner. There were no windows or lights, and I realized we still had sunlight because of the crystal walls. But then there was a slight frost appearing ever so slightly, dimming the room a tiny bit, but it wouldn`t become bad enough where we wouldn`t see.
Delia looked up from her keys and smiled thinly. "We have a small opening of time, approximately 17 minutes, for you four to talk if there are no interruptions. Top floor, room 507, any questions you may have shall be answered there."
Dinky ran towards the elevator shaft and pressed the button, squealing excitedly when the doors opened.
"Why are you so excited over an elevator?" I asked.
"There aren't any... el-uh-vate-ers, in Ponyville, only steps and ramps!" She replied back quickly, trying to sound out the word again.
We stepped inside and Ditzy leaned against the rails. "So how do these things work?"
I thought over every word in my head, trying to say it so she would understand. "There are wires and they pull this box up until a... a robot I guess tells them to stop. Then they open the doors."
"Oh," she said, her right eye moving upwards slightly.
We arrived on the top floor and Dinky ran off trying to find room 507.
"She`s overly excited sometimes, so sorry about that," Ditzy apologized for her.
"It doesn`t matter, at least she isn`t dull," I laughed.
"Found it!" Dinky called out, rushing back to us and pulling us faster along the path.
Ditzy knocked on the door and an answer came clearly from inside. "Come in," the voice said courteously.
I opened the door and saw a room that resembled a smaller version of the lobby from downstairs, but this time the desk held a nametag that said Mayor. She consisted of a young, 20 year old look-a-like with short red hair and pale skin. Her eyes were a crystal blue, almost lighter than the walls.
"Wow, someone the last of their kind, a ginger!" I said excitedly, Ditzy trying not to laugh.
"State your business, please," the Mayor replied impatiently.
I coughed. "Right, sorry. We are a new family to this town, and we`d like to know a bit of the history." Ditzy smiled at the ground when I told her we were a family, and I wrapped my arm around her carefully.
"Okay. Please, sit down," she ordered, pointing at the black couch across the room from her desk. "I guess I`ll start off with asking about you."
"Why do you need to know about us first?" Ditzy asked.
"We don`t give anything away to strangers. Just... a few safety issues," she replied again in her courteous tone.
I held up my psychic paper and smiled. "I`m the Doctor, this is my wife, Ditzy, and this is my daughter, Dinky." I then leaned closer to Ditzy`s ear. "Go along with it," I whispered.
She nodded, hugging Dinky and saying the same thing.
"Time travelers," the Mayor smiled. "Let me say, you are the first! Our society is mostly made up of my species, but we do have some other aliens come and stay here on a visit."
"We, we aren`t time travelers, what are you talking about?" Ditzy asked nervously.
"Now, our town is a place of no secrecy and complete honesty," the Mayor laughed.
"Go along with it, I can probably save us if it gets us in trouble," I smiled to Ditzy. "Your right, we are time travelers, specifically two of us are from Equestria."
"Which planet are you from, Mr. Time Traveler?"
"Oh, um, Gallifrey," I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
"So if you are from Gallifrey, that means you are a Time Lord, are you not? But what is Equestria?"
"Yes. And Equestria is a land full of talking ponies. Ditzy was a Pegasus, Dinky was a unicorn, and I was an earth pony."
"Interesting," the Mayor`s smile grew, "I may have to write that planet down for the novel."
"Ooh, what novel?" Dinky asked. I forgot about how she loved to read now so I was confused for a bit at her interest.
"It`s like a dictionary for all things alien and otherworldly. We have every single planet, every single type of species. Except for Equestria, as you had just heard." She crossed her hands, fingers lacing together, leaning forward with an anxious grin. "So, now, let`s talk about Middle Eastown."
"Good," Ditzy sighed, making me laugh.
"We originated here a few hundred years ago. Back then it was a grassy, ugly land, but as you can see we have obviously grown from that. We still haven`t figured out as to why it turned glassy, but it surely did, and we are thankful for it. Now, as to the sky, it has been like this since... well, forever, I guess. We`re in the winter part of our year, a full 200 days spread evenly, 50 days for each season. We are in the 7th day for our winter so far.
"I was a first settler to this land along with my brother. Civilization took flock in the country and before we knew it we needed shelter from the cold. We started digging holes, eventually coming across a fine spot. We found the richest and largest amounts of crystals known to our kind, so we take pride in them. It`s almost like they... just appear out of thin air and we mine them."
"Sorry to stop you," Ditzy hesitatingly said, "but why do you guys not die? Melissa said you were over 500 years old. That isn`t weird or anything, considering the Doctor, but..."
"I guess it`s almost like we can`t die. We don't age, almost like how the Doctor doesn't. Sorry to talk about you like you aren`t there by the way," she laughed.
"No problem," I sighed, leaning back in my seat.
"But once we gain enough experience, we stay looking like that age forever. In the lobby, our receptionist, Delia, she didn`t stop showing her aging until she was in her 60s-"
"-But why don`t you die, is what I am asking."
"We don`t know that, sadly enough," the Mayor frowned. Her phone rang and she groaned. "Sorry, I have to take this. Now, please leave so I may speak. Nice meeting you three."
We waved and quickly exited the room, trying not to snoop on her conversations. We boarded the elevator once more.
"This place is pretty... mysterious," Ditzy said with a laugh.
"Yeah, even I didn`t know what she was saying, and that`s a lot for me to admit!" I grinned. "But there is one thing I don`t get. Why did she know automatically we weren`t from here? Did she see our TARDIS? No, that couldn`t be, because her walls are too far from vision of the TARDIS. And we STILL don`t know her species!" I began to ramble on. "Excuse me, ladies, but I was talking to myself. I don`t expect an answer."
"Good, because you were talking too fast for us to think of one," Dinky giggled.
I smiled at the ground and crossed my arms at her comment. "As usual," I laughed.
Author`s Note:
And now, the mystery of this poorly-named town begins.